Flashback Theater Co. Season 10

Flashback Theater Co. (FbTC) is thrilled to announce that 2023-24 Season Tickets are now on sale for its tenth season of productions. This season’s lineup includes three mainstage shows, a thrilling late-night fringe production, and a special outdoor ‘Somerstage’ production. 2023-24 Season tickets guarantee your priority access to all of the plays in FbTC’s 10th season of productions!

It may not feel like long ago that Sommer Schoch, Producing Artistic Director of Flashback Theater, first brought her vision of a local semi-professional theater group to Somerset, but as the company enters its tenth season of productions, it’s clear that Flashback has proven itself to have staying power, attracting the best talent our region has to offer. With a mission to explore the world, our past, and our community through theater, Flashback clearly has a lot to celebrate. You can join the celebration all season long by purchasing Season Tickets.

Starting off the season is Obie Award Winning Playwright Lucas Hnath’s The Thin Place directed by Sommer Schoch. With late-night showings running October 26-29 2023 at Somerset Community College’s Stoner Little Theater, this chilling ghost story is sure to send shivers down your spine this Halloween season. Hnath’s play invites audiences into an intimate seance with the unknown space between life and death, exploring the questions that haunt our world. Appropriate for audiences that aren’t afraid of the dark.

Next, get ready to embark on a journey unlike any other with Patrick Barlow’s hilarious adaptation of The 39 Steps, directed by Jade Ellis. Four actors playing over 150 characters will give the classic spy story (made famous by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film) new life in Flashback’s own Black Box Theater December 7-17, 2023. With an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance, this two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning play has something for everyone.

What better way to ring in the new year than with Anton Chekhov, the father of modern theater? In 2024, Somerset’s own father of theater, Steve Cleberg, will direct his adaptation of Chekhov’s masterpiece Uncle Vanya. Throughout the years, Flashback has remained committed to bringing theater legends to life in Somerset. The tradition continues February 15-25, 2024 at Cleberg’s home stage: Stoner Little Theatre.

Flashback strives to produce work that proudly reflects the unique culture and history of our region. Preston Lane and Lauren Dossett’s musical Brother Wolf  blends Appalachian folklore, religion, and storytelling in an epic retelling of Beowulf through the lens of the evocative bluegrass music that shapes our landscape. This mountain myth, directed by Sommer Schoch, will take flight May 9-19 2024 at Stoner Little Theatre.

Rounding out the season will be the fourth installment of Flashback’s Somerstage series, with Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors directed by Amber Frangos. Two sets of twins set the stage for a classic case of Shakespearean mistaken identity leading to false accusations of infidelity, madness, and theft. A classic example of farce and slapstick from the original punmaster, Comedy of Errors  runs July 25-27 2024 at the Joe Ford Amphitheatre in Rocky Hollow Park.

With each production offering a unique experience, you’ll surely want to purchase 2023-24 Season Tickets so you can enjoy everything Flashback has to offer. 2023-24 Season Tickets guarantee you Priority Seating at each of Flashback’s four productions; a representative of Flashback Theater will contact you during the initial week of ticket sales to make sure you get the best seats in the house! Cheaper than purchasing tickets for each show individually, you’ll save big on entertainment this season at $85 a person.

Don’t miss out; get your Season Tickets today to celebrate the world, our past, and theater with FbTC!

Production Information

The Thin Place

By Lucas Hnath
Directed by Sommer Schoch
October 26th -28th, 2023
Stoner Little Theater


Hilda recalls glimpses from her childhood into a world between our own and that of the dead: the thin place. Seeking out answers, she befriends Linda, who communicates with the dead professionally, but is not a true believer so much as a master of the power of suggestion. Over the course of a dinner party, they come too close for comfort with the disturbing reality of Hilda’s otherworldly experience, which Linda denies. This thriller invites audiences to question and experience the power of the supernatural and the fear it weaves into our lives.

 

The 39 Steps

Adapted by Patrick Barlow, from the novel by John Buchan
Directed by Jade Ellis
December 7 – 17, 2023
FbTC Black Box Theater

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of four), an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance!

 

Uncle Vanya

By Anton Chekhov, adapted by Steve Cleberg| Directed by Steve Cleberg
February 15 – 25, 2024
Stoner Little Theater

When a retired professor brings his (much) younger wife home to the rural estate cared for by Uncle Vanya, he inadvertently sets off a series of bizarre love triangles that threaten the sanity of every man involved. Deemed “the first modernist play” for its unique form of ambiguity, Chekhov’s masterpiece explores the tragic and absurd humor of the wasted lives of the Russian middle class.

 

Brother Wolf

book by Preston Lane, music and lyrics by Laurelyn Dossett
Directed by Sommer Schoch
May 9 – 19, 2024
Stoner Little Theater

Blending folklore, myth, music, and mountain religion, Brother Wolf is an Appalachian adventure tale based on the story of Beowulf. High in the mountains of North Carolina, a family is threatened by a demon named Grin Dell. When a preacher named Brother Wolf arrives to lend a hand, the death of the demon sets off a cycle of revenge that can only be stopped by learning to forgive. Featuring evocative bluegrass songs, this skillful musical traces the complex art of storytelling and the fear that divides good and evil.

 

Comedy of Errors

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Amber Frangos
July 25-27, 2024
Joe Ford Amphitheatre at Rocky Hollow Park

Everything isn’t what it seems when two sets of identical twins accidentally separated at birth collide catastrophically in a series of madcap mishaps. Shakespeare’s classic tale of mistaken identity puts a slapstick spin on love, family, and the hilarity of coincidence.

 

Ticket Information

Season tickets are $85 per person and can be purchased online at: https://fbtc.ticketleap.com/fbtc-season-23-24/  or by calling the box office at (888) 394-3282, ext. 1. Box office hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Season ticket holders will be contacted in the first week of ticket sales for each show to confirm the desired date of attendance. Seating will be assigned at the time of each show’s reservation. Tickets for each production will be sent via email.

Single ticket pricing for the 10th Season of Flashback productions will be:
Adults – $23 Advance, $25 Door
Students – $12 Advance, $15 Door
Seniors – $20 Advance and Door

Season Sponsors & Supporters

Flashback Theater is grateful to our 2023-24 Spotlight Sponsors: Applied Behavioral Advancements, M&W Printing, The Shubert Foundation, The City of Somerset, David Daring Rentals, and Fenix Digital; as well as our Footlight Sponsors: Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital & Lake Cumberland Residency Programs, First & Farmer’s National Bank, The Weigel Family, United Cumberland Bank, T. Ronald Kidd Trust, Kinetic by Windstream, Somerset Community College, Toyotetsu America, Inc. (TTAI), Brad Bigelow of Century 21 Advantage Realty, and Buffalo Wings & Rings.